Announcing the winners of five LSA Awards
Today, the LSA recognizes five linguists for their work to support endangered languages, promote linguistics to the public, and advance and serve the field of linguistics as a whole. Congratulations to the winners of the following LSA Awards:
- Linguistics, Language and the Public Award: Michael Erard. Michael Erard, editor of the online linguistics publication Schwa Fire, has over 15 years of experience writing on linguistic topics for the general public. Erard is the author of the popular book Babel No More: The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners and has contributed to media including the New York Times, Science, and NPR. The LL&P Award "honors an individual or group for work that effectively increases public awareness and understanding of linguistics and language."
LL&P winner Michael Erard
- Linguistic Service Award: Terry Langendoen. Terry Langendoen has recently worked in the Office of Cyberinfrastructure and the Division of Information & Intelligent Systems at the National Science Foundation, after a career of over 40 years in academia. Langendoen is receiving the Linguistic Service Award "for his creative work in drawing good work in computational linguistics to the attention of National Science Foundation programs with little history of funding work on language, significantly expanding the funding base for work in linguistics."
- Kenneth L. Hale Award: Nora C. England. The Ken Hale Award is given annually to a linguist for outstanding work in the documentation of an endangered or extinct language. Nora England, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin, has devoted her career to research on the Mayan languages of Guatemala, particularly her work with Mam. England has trained hundreds of indigenous linguists currently working in education and elsewhere, for which she received a MacArthur Fellowship in 1993.
- Early Career Award: Judith Tonhauser. Judith Tonhauser, Associate Professor at The Ohio State University, has become a leader in the realm of semantic fieldwork since receiving her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 2006. Her work has been published multiple times in Language and other leading journals, and Tonhauser is also highly regarded for her service to the field and her work in improving semantic and pragmatic methodologies.
- Victoria A. Fromkin Lifetime Service Award: Barbara Partee. The Fromkin Award "recognizes individuals who have performed extraordinary service to the discipline and to the Society throughout their career". Barbara Partee's (UMass - Amherst) service to the Society includes her co-founding (with Geoff Pullum) of the LSA's Committee on Ethnic Diversity in Linguistics (CEDL) and her support of Russian students and scholars. She has been a crucial supporter of the LSA's efforts in fundraising, including her leading role in the creation of the Emmon Bach Fund, and has also been a role model for the next generation of LSA leaders as a member of the LSA's Executive Committee.
All LSA Awards will be presented at the 2016 LSA Annual Meeting on Saturday, January 9, 5:30 PM at the Marriott Marquis Washington, DC. Announcements for the winners of this year's final LSA Awards, the Leonard Bloomfield Book Award and the Best Paper in Language Award, will be made later this month.
Congratulations and thanks once more to all our award winners!